Monday, August 10, 2009

Love and Obedience Rewarded

Deuteronomy 11 (New King James Version)

1 “Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.
2 Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the LORD your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm—
3 His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land;
4 what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots: how He made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day;
5 what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place;
6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel—
7 but your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did.
8 “Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess,
9 and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden;
11 but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven,
12 a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.
13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’
16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them,
17 lest the LORD’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.
18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
22 “For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him—
23 then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.
24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. 25 No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you.
26 “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:
27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today;
28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
29 Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.
30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh?
31 For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. 32 And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.

What is the whole essence of Deuteronomy 11?

There is blessing if you obey the commandment of God and curse if you don't obey (vv 27-28)...curse that may be transferred unto the 3rd and 4th generation.

What is the commandment?

Love the Lord your God, walk in His ways, and hold fast to Him (v 22)...love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul (v 13)

What then will be the blessings for obedience to God?
  • you may be strong, and go in and possess the land (v 8)
  • you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, ' a land flowing with milk and honey' (v 9); your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth (v 21)
  • the eyes of the Lord will be always on the land that He gave to you from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year for He cares for it (v 12)
  • God will provide rain in its season at the perfect time when your land needs rain (v 14)
  • He will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled (v 15)
  • God will drive out nations before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves (v 23)
  • every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; it shall be your territory (v 24)
  • God shall be your protector; He will fight for you (v 25)

What must we do to be able to obey God?

  • lay up God's words in your heart and in your soul (v 18)
  • bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes (v 18)
  • teach them to your children, speaking to them always (v 19)
  • write them on the doorposts of your house and your gates (v 20)
  • carefully keep all His commandments (v 22)

What are some of the curses for disobedience?

  • long drought followed by months of famine...God shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce,
  • and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you (v 17)

What provokes God's wrath?

Worshiping idols aroused God's anger..."Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods, and worship them (v 16), lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you, ...."(v 17)

Summary:

"Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always." (v 1). Our loving God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, there is no shadow of turning...He won't change because He is already perfect in His ways. What He promised to the Israelites for obeying His commandments are also true for us, His living children in today's world. He will provide for our every need and will protect us always.

The above was the teaching last Wednesday, August 5, 2009, for our cell group Bible Study held at Agape Center in Alpha House, Imus, Cavite where we also celebrated Ate Leony's 61st birthday. Click this website for pictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j1EXKVI7Jo

May God bless us all. . . Amen & amen.

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